Because electronic components are changing fast, and because purchasing an entire new item of equipment represents a considerable investment, more and more equipment operators are renovating existing equipment.
This applies in particular since, generally, the mechanical portions and the power electronics not only age well but also represent the largest proportion of the cost of the overall equipment.
Conversely, the control electronics are often obsolete after only a few years.
The consequences of the above are that components can no longer be found on the market, or they can be found only at prices that are prohibitive for repair purposes, and that maintenance costs are high, compared with the possible new solutions.
Beyond a certain cost, renovation of the control electronics is envisaged.
Several prior art solutions for performing such renovation are described below.
Prior art cabinets for electronic card drawers and prior art equipment to be renovated are constructed to old standards, such as the DIN 297 standard, the CF 61002 standard, and the XNF 61005 standard.
New standards must be complied with, such as the EN 50 155 standard, or the CLC/TCYX (sec) 95 standard appended to EN 50 155.
A first prior art solution consists in upgrading the prior art drawers such that they remain identical to the old drawers so that the cabinet retains identical interfaces.
A major drawback with the first prior art solution is that the drawer is not adapted to suit new techniques and new standards, in particular as regards reductions in volume, the bus technique, and new connector solutions.
A second prior art solution consists in reconstructing new cabinets by integrating drawers having the most recent technologies and taking into account new standards.
A major drawback with the second prior art solution is that it involves large costs as regards designing the integration of the cabinet because it is necessary to adapt the construction of the cabinet and because all the wiring needs to be revised, e.g. the wiring of the vehicle when applied to the transport field, by adapting the old wiring by means of additional intermediate connection points.
Another drawback with the second prior art solution is that it takes a long time to perform the renovation, in particular to design the adaptation and to implement it, because the old cabinets must be removed, the wiring must be modified in situ, and the new cabinet must be fitted.
Another drawback with the second prior art solution is that it gives rise to risks of malfunction: the second solution involves reworking wiring that is already old by adding intermediate wiring.
Another drawback with the second prior art solution is that, once completed, the renovation is irreversible.
The prior art equipment to be renovated mounted on board a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, is disposed in a fitted cabinet in which electronics drawers are mounted disposed one above another.
At the back, a cabinet backplane provides the support for floating connectors which, with appropriate wiring, implement the functional links between the drawers and the wiring of the vehicle. Drawers are slotted in via the front of the cabinet.
At the back of the drawer, connectors plug into the cabinet connectors.